A Little Different
by Richard Ryley
Summary: A what if story. What if Ranma and Akane had gotten off on the right foot? Or... maybe they've just been fooling us all this time...
1. Please Knock

  
"A Little Different"  
  
by Richard Ryley  
  
  
"Kasumi... who is that strange man talking with Father?"  
  
"Who knows... you can tell Akane that it's all right to take her bath now."  
  
Akane walked into the bathroom. She could see the red satin outfit that Ranma had been wearing lying in the hamper. "Good," she said to herself, "We can both take our bath."  
  
She turned around. Stripping out of her gi, she stepped over to the door to the bathing area, where a sign was hung that read "Please Knock."  
  
Without really thinking about it, Akane did.  
  
There was a splash of water, and the sound of someone moving suddenly. "Don't come in!" There was a crash, as of a chair being knocked over. "Just a moment..."  
  
Akane's brow furrowed. That was a man's voice. "Ranma! Are you in there? Who is that, you're not Ranma!"  
  
"Um..." There was a muttered "damn," then more thumping. She could hear the sound of water running.  
  
Akane thought for a moment. She didn't recognize the voice, so it wasn't Dad. Could some guy have slipped in the window? That was a horrible thought... "I warn you... I know Kempo. What have you done with Ranma?"  
  
There was a loud splash, and the sound of water hitting the floor. "I'm all right," came Ranma's voice back. "Nothing to worry about."  
  
Akane blinked. That was NOT the voice she had heard before. She quickly reached behind herself to grab a towel. Wrapping it around her body, she pondered what explanation there might be for all this.  
  
"Ranma, what's going on?"  
  
"Just a minute..." There were some more shuffling sounds, from just on the other side of the divider, and Akane decided she'd had enough. She slid the divider open.   
  
Ranma stood right there, looking decidedly uncomfortable, with her hand up as if to open the divider herself. She had a towel wrapped around her body, and the sight of Akane in HER towel, for some reason, made her blush deeply and look away.  
  
"Um..." she said. "Sorry... I was just getting out..."  
  
Akane stared at her. "Ranma... why is your towel wet?" It was, in fact, soaking wet, and dripping, just as Ranma herself was.  
  
"Huh? Um... I don't know what you mean."  
  
"Is there someone else in there with you? Your father, maybe?"   
  
Ranma blinked and stepped backwards. She looked as if she was on the verge of panic. "My father?"  
  
"That's right, we didn't get to meet him, but I assumed that he was coming with you. Did he get delayed or something?"  
  
"Um..." Ranma looked down at the floor. "I'll have to tell you about that, I guess..."  
  
"Is he in there?" she asked, trying to look over her shoulder. It seemed a bit wierd, to her, for a father to take a bath with his teenage daughter, but they HAD been on a training mission in China together. They probably hadn't been able to find that many nice hotels out in the wilderness.  
  
Ranma glanced back at the bath. "Huh? No, there's no one in here but me."  
  
Akane began to get a little angry. "Look, I heard a man's voice, Ranma. It was quite a bit deeper than yours, let me tell you. So, what the hell is going on?"  
  
Ranma tried to lower her voice an octave. "You mean, like this?" It was completely unconvincing, and not low enough, to boot.  
  
"No, not at all," Akane frowned at the red-haired girl, who now was looking REALLY uncomfortable. "You're hiding something!" She shoved past Ranma into the bathroom, but there was no one there. She looked the room over, quickly, but there didn't seem to anyone hiding in there. Frowning, she looked back at Ranma.  
  
Ranma looked up at her, her blue eyes wide with fear, and maybe even a touch of guilt, then looked away again. There was something else, there, that Akane couldn't place. For some reason, Ranma didn't seem to want to look directly at her. Or maybe she did, but was forcing herself not to.  
  
Akane took a deep breath. Ranma had closed up completely, and she wasn't going to get anywhere by threatening her. She forced herself to relax. "Look, I'm not mad at you or anything, Ranma, I just want to know what's going on."  
  
Ranma exhaled shakily. For a moment, she looked like she was about to say something, but then she shook her head. "Come on..." Akane prodded. "It can't be that bad."   
  
"Oh, yes it can..." Ranma put a hand to her head. She turned, walking away from Akane into the washroom. Akane followed, and found Ranma leaning heavily against the sink. "Akane... that voice you heard... was mine."  
  
Akane crossed her arms. "I told you, I could tell that was a man's voice. It was a lot deeper than your voice."  
  
"Well, this voice, yeah..." Ranma reached down and picked up the rinse bucket. There was a note of dejected finality in her words. "I guess I might as well show you. It'll get out soon enough... better now than later."  
  
She turned on the tap, and began to run hot water into the bucket. "Do me a favor... get another towel. After this is over, I don't want you to... um... be embarassed..." She still wasn't looking at Akane, even as she spoke to her.  
  
Akane was confused, now, but went ahead and grabbed another towel. This wasn't making any sense at all. Ranma continued to run the hot water into the bucket, until it was nearly full, and then she shut off the tap and picked the bucket up.  
  
She glanced back at Akane. "I'm sorry about this, I really am." A flash of anger played across her face. "If Pop and I hadn't got caught in the rain, then none of this would have happened." She dumped the water over her head.  
  
Akane's jaw dropped. She blinked, rubbed her eyes, then looked again. Right in front of her, Ranma had suddenly grown about three inches, gone from red hair to black -- and turned into a boy!  
  
He looked down at himself, checking to make sure his towel hadn't dislodged. He turned his back to her as he adjusted it a bit, bringing it down from his chest to cover his hips a little better.  
  
"While we were in China, Pop and I had a little accident. Pop's the panda that brought me in. We fell into the cursed springs of the training grounds of Jusenkyo, and now... well... whenever I'm hit with cold water I turn into a girl..."  
  
Akane still couldn't speak for a long moment. Ranma just stood there, staring down at the floor. "I'm sorry about this. I wanted to tell you, all of you, but it's so hard to explain... and Pop dragged me in here without giving me time to change back and..."  
  
His voice trailed off as the room felt silent again. Finally Akane spoke. "Could you do that... again..." Ranma turned to see her staring at him, incredulous. Her mouth was still hanging open.  
  
He held out a hand. "Um... well... could you give me another towel?"  
  
Akane suddenly pressed the one she was holding closer to her chest. The towel she had wrapped around her body was plenty long enough to cover her, but all of a sudden she felt VERY naked. She stood there, staring at him for a moment, until he had to repeat the question.  
  
"Uh. Yeah." She ran back and grabbed a third towel and handed it to him. He wrapped it around his upper body, then put the bucket back under the sink. This time he filled it with cold water.  
  
After a few moments, the bucket was full. He lifted the bucket, dumped it over his head, and then his... her towel was suddenly filled out in a way it hadn't been before.  
  
"Oh... my... God..."  
  
Ranma turned to look back at her as Akane approached. Her eyes were a little darker blue than they'd been when she was a man, and her face was a bit different, but she could tell that this was still the same person. "So that's why my dad thought you were a boy. You ARE a boy."  
  
She nodded. "Ranma Saotome, son of Genma. When my dad contacted you and said he was coming with his son, that's what he meant. Only... we got caught in the rain on the way over here."  
  
"Wow." Akane couldn't think of anything else to say. "This is... this is too wierd."  
  
Ranma frowned. "Try living it sometime."  
  
"No thanks..." Akane paused a moment. "So what are you gonna do now?"  
  
"Go back to China! I've got to find a cure for this thing!"  
  
"And what about your dad's plan to marry you to one of us?"  
  
Ranma looked away. "I don't have time for that now. Besides, no woman's going to marry me like this."  
  
Akane nodded. Her expression was sympathetic, but she still seemed to breathe a sigh of relief. "Are you really..." She looked the redhead up and down. "I mean, all the way..."  
  
"Of course I am!" She snapped, suddenly angry. "What, do you want to see?!!!"  
  
"No! No!" Akane blushed. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean..."  
  
"No... *I'm* sorry..." Ranma held up a hand, a look of pain on her face. "This is just so hard, you know?" She stared at the floor for a few moments, and then muttered, "No, I guess you can't know..."  
  
Akane put a hand on her shoulder. "Maybe not, but I can guess. I remember how you looked when Nabiki..."  
  
Ranma closed her eyes, covering her face with both hands. "Of all the ways to be reminded that I'm a girl..."  
  
"Listen... You're welcome to stay with us, until you and your Dad can raise enough money to go back to China." She gave Ranma's shoulder a comforting squeeze. "And I'll do all that I can to help...  
  
There was a short silence. "Well, maybe we'd better tell the others. You wanna turn back into a guy before we go out?"  
  
Ranma suddenly looked uncomfortable again. "Um... I'd kinda rather you... um..."  
  
Akane blushed as she realized what she meant. "Of COURSE I meant after I leave, stupid!" Then she blinked. "Actually, I don't think I wanna... um..."  
  
Ranma's eyes widened. "Maybe I'd better go back into the bath. You can change out here, and I'll wait until you've gone."  
  
"You better not peek..."  
  
She grinned. "I won't. I promise." Yet, Akane picked out a bit of glimmer in her eye, as if maybe she WANTED to peek.  
  
"You better not..." She watched as the little red-haired girl walked into the bathing area and shut the divider. Akane quickly dropped her two towels and put her clothes back on.  
  
"Okay, I'm done. I'm leaving now, so you can come out." She stepped out the door, closing it behind her.   
  
A few minutes passed, then a few minutes more. "What's taking you so long?"  
  
"I have to dry off, remember?" came a masculine voice from inside the room. "I'd dried off a little standing there, but I had to dump hot water over myself to change back."  
  
Despite the fact that she'd been expecting it, it still suprised her to hear that deep voice coming from the bathroom. It wasn't all that deep, really. Ranma seemed to be about seventeen, in both of his bodies, but his male voice was deep enough that she could tell the difference.  
  
The door opened. The black haired boy was standing there, in the red outfit. Somehow, it looked really good on him. It showed the muscle tone of his body very nicely.  
  
Akane blinked. Where had THAT come from?  
  
He grinned at her. "You know, I sure am glad you knocked. At that very moment, I was stepping out of the tub. You would have seen more than you expected."  
  
She blushed, but grinned back. "Well, so would you. I wasn't wearing a towel at that moment, either."  
  
There was that glimmer in his eyes again, as if he were thinking about it. "Pervert," she teased him.  
  
"Well, thank God it DIDN'T happen that way..."  
  
Akane grinned at the expression on Ranma's face. "I'd have killed you!"   
  
"At least! Now you see the kind of trouble this curse keeps getting me into! Turning into a girl all the time..."  
  
"It's not so bad being a girl," Akane said. "In case you hadn't noticed, I'm one, and it doesn't bother me."  
  
"I'd noticed," Ranma said. Akane found herself a bit suprised by the mischievous tone in his voice. But he was looking away.  
  
"... It's just that, I'm a guy. Everything I know, everything I am is based on that. When I'm a girl... I... I just don't feel like myself."  
  
"I dunno... I think it would be kind of interesting to be a boy, every now and then."  
  
Ranma looked at her. "You're a bit of a tomboy, aren't you?"  
  
"Yeah, I'm a tomboy!" Akane snapped. She stepped back, dropping into a karate stance. "You got a problem with that?"  
  
"No, no! I like it!" He held up both hands, grinning widely. "You're kind of a cute tomboy."  
  
Was he teasing her? Akane stared at him. "You think I'm cute?"  
  
"Well, in an uncute kind of way." He laughed. "For an uncute tomboy, you are VERY cute."  
  
"I'm don't quite know how to take that," Akane said.  
  
"Take it as a compliment. 'Cause..."   
  
He paused, as if considering his words. "Well... you know... back there in the Dojo and all... you did... okay, you know? So, you may be a tomboy, but you're a really GOOD tomboy."  
  
Akane found herself blushing. "Really? After all that swinging at empty air? You think I'm good?"  
  
Ranma grinned. "Not as good as me, of course, but okay. For a girl, I mean..."  
  
"Ranma!" She crossed her arms as Ranma smirked at her. "You were a girl too, ya know!"  
  
There was a short pause. Ranma continued to smile that cocky, half smile, but Akane's expression turned serious. She frowned as a thought occured to her. "Ranma... about what I said..."  
  
"What?"  
  
"That... I was glad you weren't a boy..."  
  
"Oh, that?" Ranma gave a short laugh. "You couldn't have known..."  
  
"No... I mean... I didn't mean it like that."  
  
Ranma stared at her, puzzled, as Akane continued. "You see, there's this guy, at school, who's crazy about me." She frowned. "He's crazy in other ways, too, but that's beside the point. Anyway, a few weeks ago, he made this stupid challenge. He was trying to drive the other boys away, so only he would have a chance at me..."  
  
Now it was Ranma's turn to marvel. Akane had so many boys after herthat they were challenging each other for her? Sure, she was cute, but was she really THAT cute?  
  
"Kuno's challenge was that only a boy who could beat me in a martial arts fight was worthy to have me. He's the best martial artist in the school, so I guess he thought everyone else would just give up. Instead, it had the opposite effect. Every boy in the school's been trying to 'prove himself' to me, by challenging me to a fight."  
  
She looked up at Ranma. "Anyway, that's why I said what I said. I was glad you weren't a boy, because, according to Kuno's challenge... and... well... since you ARE a boy..."  
  
He grinned. "I'm worthy of you, is that it?"  
  
"Don't you start on me!" Akane hefted herself up on her toes as she stared Ranma in the eye. "*I* decide who I will marry, do you understand me! Not Kuno, not my father, not YOUR father, *ME*!!!"  
  
Ranma grinned widely, putting up both hands. "Okay, okay, you made your point... so, you're serious about this, then."  
  
"What, why wouldn't I be?"  
  
Ranma shook his head. "I don't know. This is no wierder than any of the other things that happen in my life. It's just... it's kind of hard to believe that you have to fight half the school every morning just to be on time..."  
  
"It's nothing I can't handle. Not that I wouldn't mind a little help. But only a little. I have a reputation as a tomboy to uphold..."  
  
"An UNCUTE tomboy," Ranma reminded her.  
  
Akane laughed a little, then looked back up, meeting Ranma's eyes. "Ranma... I won't let your father decide who I will marry."  
  
Ranma nodded. "Neither will I. But it's gonna be hard to convince Pop. Once he gets an idea in his head..."  
  
"Then we'll work together... to try and talk our dads out of this, and get you back to China, and get you cured. Okay?"   
  
"Okay." Ranma smiled, wickedly. "I've got an idea. Why don't we act like we hate each other. I mean, Pop's still going to try and force this on us, but if we fight all the time, maybe we can drag it out."  
  
"Yeah... I like that. You complain about me being a tomboy, and I'll yell at you for being a pervert. Better yet, why don't we act like I DID stumble across you in the bath. I could chase you around the Dojo with a table!"  
  
Ranma laughed. "And I'll make some snide remark about what a lousy fighter you are. Then you can clobber me with the table."  
  
"No... just say that you've got bigger breasts than I have. Even Kasumi wouldn't blame me for clobbering you then."  
  
"No kidding." Ranma winced. "Just don't hit too hard..."  
  
"Don't worry about it." Akane gave him that smile again. "We're still friends, right?"  
  
"Right." For some reason, Ranma's burden didn't feel quite so heavy. "I'll wait in here, you run into the living room and tell everyone that there's a pervert in the bathroom."  
  
He ducked back into the washroom, while Akane turned and put her back to the door. She waited a few seconds, while she got her giggling under control. Then she took a deep breath, and let out a ear-splitting scream.  
  
  
THE END  



	2. Perserverance

"A Little Different"

Perserverance

Ranma sat on the rock next to the koi pond, resting his head in his hand as he thought. His nose still smarted from where he had landed, face first, on the rock. It was the second time in as many nights that Akane had sent him flying out of her room, the full force of her rage behind her punch. He hated to think such a thing about her, but the tomboy had a hell of a temper. It almost DID make her "uncute", as he had taken to calling her.

Then again... for a moment, Ranma's mind brought up an image of her staring at him, her eyes wide with shock, but her expression strangely soft. She had awakened, nose to nose with him, as he fell across her, dreading the disaster about to happen. She had been a little scared, and astounded that he would be in her bed. But there was something else there, something he couldn't quite identify. His heart had suddenly begun beating wildly, as he stared into those huge brown eyes.

But then there was a beating of another kind. Why wouldn't she listen to him? The more he let her sleep alone with that disgusting little pervert, the more it ate at him. If he could turn into a little pig, would he let Akane pick up and cuddle him, kiss him gently on the nose, press him against her soft... he swallowed as the memory of her warm body against his came up again, and he angrily shoved it back down.

That jerk, Ryoga, if he hadn't promised he wouldn't tell anyone about the curse, he'd just tell Akane. But what else could he do? He'd tried to get the little runt out of the room, but that just backfired. Last night, he'd tripped and fallen on top of Akane, and this night, she was just sitting there, in a chair, wide awake and waiting for him. That wasn't good.

Ranma almost gave up. After all, he didn't owe Akane any favors, right? If she wanted to cuddle the little pig, what was it to him? It served Ryoga right, being treated like a pet, pampered and cooed over like a little baby. That'd make him feel like a big man for sure. And if Akane was too stupid to listen to him, well, she deserved whatever she got.

The thought made him press both hands against his eyes to try to dispell it. Of course she didn't deserve that. Akane was his friend. No matter how mad he was at her for accusing him of... well, what was she supposed to think of him being in her bed, anyway? With a sigh, he stood up. The only thing he could think of was to just keep trying.

Ranma crept up to Akane's window sill, making his way hand over hand across the eaves. He wouldn't let the little runt rile him, he'd just pick him up and get him out of the room. He slipped in the window, the kettle of hot water held tightly in his hand, and ready. He glanced around to find Akane, and saw that she had gotten into bed.

She wasn't asleep, though, and looked up at him, irritated and angered by his persistance. "I said GET OUT OF HERE!" She screamed, rising to her feet, and running to the window to pound him again. Ranma only barely had time to mutter, "Akane!" before he was flying through the air towards the rock again.

A few minutes later, he was making his way across the eaves again. He found her sitting on the edge of the bed this time, her jaw clenched, and her eyes flashing with fire. She didn't say a word this time, just punched him with enough force to set his ears ringing. He missed the rock, and landed between it and the koi pond. Fortunately, Akane's window was at a slightly different angle from the pond than Pop's, or he would have needed the kettle he was carrying for more than just Ryoga.

Ranma took a moment to sigh, as Akane slammed the window shut. He found himself playing back the memory of her face as she punched him. Tomboy or not, she sure was cute when she was angry...

Pulling himself back up, he resigned himself to his fate once again. He slipped his way upside down across the eaves, and quietly raised Akane's window. He poked his head in, and met her eyes as she lay in her bed, watching for him. Her face was so red with rage he could almost see her shaking from it.

She sat up slowly. "WHAT THE HELL IS YOUR PROBLEM!" She hissed.

Ranma swallowed. Steeling himself, he fixed his face into a frown. "I just want to talk, okay?"

Her eyes narrowed. She seemed to growl. "Okay. Talk."

"I have just one question for you, Akane." He held up the kettle, pointedly staring into her eyes. "If I'm coming in here to molest you, what do I need a kettle of hot water for?"

She ground her teeth, the sound setting his own teeth on edge. He could see the look of betrayal and hurt in her eyes, but couldn't keep down his own anger. "How the hell should I know what perverted things you do with a kettle?"

His own anger grew hotter. "If I'm coming in here to molest you," Ranma repeated, more loudly, "What do I need a kettle of hot water for?"

At the sound, P-Chan woke up and blinked his eyes, blearily. Ranma's words sank in, and he realized that his rival was in danger of revealing the curse. Snarling, the little pig leaped at Ranma.

Ranma batted P-Chan aside, dodging his attacks. Akane started yelling at him. "Damm you, Ranma, leave P-Chan alone!" She choked, tears threatening to well up in her eyes, but then her voice turned furious again. "Leave him alone!"

"HE'S attacking ME!" Ranma shouted, waving futily at the black ball of energy which was shooting around the room, snapping at his hands as it passed. "You can see it, can't you!"

"He's just a little pig, you baka!" Akane screamed, starting to become hysterical. This was just getting worse and worse. Ranma realized he was losing his temper, and if the pig boy bit him a few more times, he might just totally lose it.

"Fine! I tried to warn you! Here it is, right here!" He slammed the kettle down on Akane's bedside table, trying not to yell at her, not wanting to yell at her, but unable to stop. Her lack of trust in him had cut him to the bone, and he wasn't sure he could take it any more. Finally shoving his face into hers, he screamed at her. "I've given you all the clues! FIGURE IT OUT!"

He climbed back into the window. Stealing half an apologetic glance back at her, he muttered, "I'm going to bed. If he's still here tomorrow, I'm doing it again. I won't let that... pig... have a single night's peace as long as he's in your bed."

Unable to look at her any more, not sure why he was fighting so hard to hold back tears, he leaped out of the window, and to the ground.

Akane didn't even try to hold the tears back. She slammed the window shut, shaking violently. She hid her face in both hands. "Why, Ranma, why... I trusted you... I trusted you..."

Getting herself under control, she looked down at P-Chan, who had pranced up to her, looking very satisfied with himself. She sniffled a little and bent down to pick up her pet. "That's right, P-Chan. That's right." She fought down a wracking sob. "You protected me from the bad old pervert who tried to molest me."

P-Chan snuggled up against her, giving a little squeal of happiness. Akane sobbed again. What could possibly be going on? Did Ranma really... could he have tried to... or was he jealous of P-Chan or something? Was that really it? She thought about it again, trying to dismiss it like before. If he were jealous, wouldn't that mean... he liked her?

She shook her head. No. She and Ranma were friends. "Or I thought we were," she growled. She settled down on the bed, but was nowhere near to sleep. P-Chan cuddled up on her chest, but she lay there, her head in a whirl, emotions flowing through her too fast and too intense to sort them out.

The tears started up again. What was he thinking? He must have known she was awake, that he couldn't sneak into her room. Last night, she believed that he had shown his true colors. She had trusted him, she had believed in him, she had believed he wasn't a pervert. And he had been there in her bed. In her bed.

Unbidden, the memory came back to her, of waking up in his arms. The feeling of safety and warmth that surrounded her. She remembered that feeling, of staring up into his blue eyes, that look of shock and fear there. And then his protests, that she misunderstood, that it wasn't what it seemed, that...

The anger came flaring back. How could she misunderstand! His arms were around her, his body was pressed against hers! He was in her BED! But the look on his face, it had shown only fear, shock, even a little embarassment. He didn't look like the boys that were charging at her every morning, overcome by their disgusting lust for her.

P-Chan stirred slightly, beginning to snore. Why? Was it because of P-Chan? Was he so petty and egotistical that he couldn't even allow her to have a pet? Was he her property now? Was she supposed to bow down to his every whim, allow him to deny her whatever he wanted? She shivered, the confusion and anger warring in her head, her emotions careening wildly from one to the next. She began to sob again.

Why? Why? He seemed so angry, right at the end. He kept saying it wasn't what she thought. He kept coming back, knowing she knew he was trying to... do things to her. He kept coming back, insisting he wasn't. Knowing she was awake, watching him. He kept coming back. Coming back for P-Chan.

She glanced down at the little pig on her chest again. What was it? Why would he be jealous of a little pig? Could he... could he care... about her? There was a flash, of his face, hanging over her, so worried, and so scared. That look in his eyes, that made her grow warm. And his anger as he had screamed at her. The resignation, as he stood in the window. "I'm going to bed."

Like an echo, she heard Ranma's girl voice repeat those same words, sharp with anger and astonishment. "I'm going to bed. Keep your 'baby'. See if I care." Almost like he was hurt. Just after she had kissed P-Chan on the snout.

P-Chan snored away. Did he really hate P-Chan so much? Why? Why?

Leaning her head back in frustration, she glanced up at the night table, and saw the kettle.

The idea flickered across her mind. Just a hint, at first. Then, as the thought began to grow and take form, it got stronger. "No. No."

Akane swallowed. "No..." she muttered again. "It can't be. It..." She glanced down at P-Chan again. He was nestled against her, a smile of satisfaction on his face. His snout rested right between her breasts. Right between her breasts. "No. Oh, God, no..."

Slowly, her body starting to shiver, she began to lean to one side. Her hands went up, to support the little piglet, gingerly, like she was afraid to touch him. She rolled onto her side, shifting P-Chan's weight into her hands, as she guided him slowly onto the bed. He stirred again, making soft grunting noises, and Akane stroked his head. "Shh... shh my little P-Chan." Her voice was choked, tight. "It's okay. Shhh..."

She continued to speak softly and soothingly, as he settled back into sleep. Still moving painfully slowly, she drew away from him. She rolled back, and sat up on the bed. She wrapped both arms around her chest, huddling over her body as if hiding it from view. Her breath escaped her in a ragged gasp, as she shivered violently.

Quickly, almost too quickly, her hand shot out to the kettle. She lifted it by its handle, feeling the weight of the water inside it, the warmth of the handle. It wasn't boiling, but still hot enough. She passed it over P-Chan on the bed - then paused. She stared at the little pig, at the kettle in her hand, then back at the pig again. Again moving slowly and cautiously, she swung the kettle back to the night stand and set it down.

She turned back to P-Chan. Her hand reached out, touched the yellow and black bandanna around his neck. She shuddered. Turning away, she slowly, timidly, leaned forward and then rose onto her feet. Quietly, she tiptoed out to the door, and opened it, just making the slightest noise as she slipped into the hall.

Ranma lay on his futon in the room he shared with his Pop. He had been laying there for a good thirty or forty minutes, but he wasn't anywhere near sleep either. He heard the door softly slide open, and a dim light from the hall cut into the room. Akane's silhouette stood there.

"Ranma?" She whispered. He sat up. She gestured to him, and stepped back out the door.

He joined her in the hall. Her face was beet red, and she wouldn't meet his eyes. For a long time she said nothing, then she managed to mutter. "Is... is... is Ryoga P-Chan?"

Ranma nodded. She looked up into his eyes, begging him to make it a lie. "Are you sure? This isn't a trick? You sure you didn't make a mistake?"

He put a hand on her shoulder. She didn't twist away, although he did feel her shiver. "I saw him change." His eyes narrowed, and he tried to make his voice sound angry, although he really couldn't do more than just grumble. "Why didn't ya just use the water? Then you'd know for yourself."

Akane shook her head, her eyes wild and unfocused. "He'd be... in my bed... and... and..." her voice dropped to a hoarse whisper. "Naked..."

Ranma nodded, understanding her feelings. After all, she'd been embarassed that her family heard her throwing him out of the room last night, and he'd been fully clothed. "I'll get him and take him into the furo."

Akane grabbed his arm. "Just... just get him out of here. Turn him back, and give him his clothes, and get him out of here. I... I don't think I want to see him."

"I understand." Ranma gathered up Ryoga's clothes, which he had stashed in the laundry after the pig boy had abandoned them in the rain. Then he walked into Akane's room and poured the contents of the kettle over P-Chan.

Ryoga sputtered as he awakened. "RANMA! PREPARE TO..."

"Shh!" Ranma hissed. "You want to wake up the whole family?"

The lost boy immediately fell silent. Ranma smirked at him. "Akane went to the bathroom. Here's your clothes. If you don't want her to find you in her bed, you'll put them on and go out the window."

Grumbling, Ryoga realized he had no choice. "You honorless cur!" Ryoga hissed, while putting on his clothes. "You were trying to break your promise. A promise between men."

Ranma decided to lie. "I did no such thing. Akane still doesn't know. And if you don't come back, she never will."

Tying the last of his leggings in place, Ryoga snarled one last parting message. "This isn't the end of it, Ranma Saotome. I'll destroy your happiness, mark my words."

"Oh, get lost." Ranma watched as the boy climbed through Akane's window and jumped to the ground. In a few seconds, Ryoga had leaped over the wall and vanished.

Ranma stood for a moment, thinking. Then he opened the door to the hall. As he expected, Akane was standing there, silently crying.

She looked so unhappy, and forlorn, that Ranma didn't really know what to do. He leaned against the door frame, putting a hand behind his head, nervously, and looking off up at the ceiling. Akane walked past him, and slowly sat down on the bed. She sat there for a long time, then finally looked up at him.

She patted the bed next to her. "Well, come on, Ranma, sit down, I won't hit you."

He managed a small smile. "I never can tell."

Akane blushed prettily. Or at least, Ranma thought it was pretty. He had to swallow to force down his nervousness and walk over to her. He put his hand on hers as he sat down.

"I'm sorry, Ranma. I... I didn't trust you, and I didn't listen to you. You were trying to tell me and..." She looked away from him, ashamed. "I just assumed you were a pervert, like all the other boys. I'd told myself I was going to be your friend, to give you a chance, and at the first sign of anything perverted, I just jumped to the wrong conclusions."

She began to cry again. "I'm sorry."

"Hey, it's okay." Ranma had no idea how to comfort her, and felt clumsy and awkward. He just knew he was going to do the wrong thing. Hesitantly, though, he lifted his hand from hers, to put it on her shoulder. "I was a jerk, too. I lost my temper and said a lot of dumb things. I kept trying to tell you what was going on, but just made it worse."

"Why couldn't you just tell me, Ranma?" She sniffled. "Why make me guess? Was it some... game to you?"

"No, no, of course not!" He gripped her shoulders, not tightly, but he stared into her eyes, trying to make her believe him. "Ryoga made me promise never to tell anyone. It's my fault he got cursed. I... I PUSHED him into that spring. He made me keep it a secret... and I guess I kind of broke that promise, even though I tried not to..."

Akane wiped her eyes. "I should have known it was something like that. You baka." She tried to laugh, but it choked in her throat. "I'm sorry I didn't trust you. Some... some friend I am."

She finally broke down, and leaned against him. Ranma felt his arms going around her. She began to wail into his chest, almost like she had with Dr. Tofu. Ranma tried to comfort her as the Doctor had, stroking her back reassuringly, although the contact with her body made him shiver and bite his lip nervously.

He listened to her crying as she pressed against him, her hands wrapped in his tank top, clutching him to her. She wasn't exactly wrapping herself around him, she still felt a bit timid, too, but they'd still never touched like this before. Ranma held his breath, not daring to do anything to scare her, to draw her in too close. He could feel her tears, cool against his chest, and wondered idly if they might trigger his curse.

After a while, her shaking began to subside. She leaned away from him, wiping her face with the backs of her hands. "I'm sorry, Ranma. I... I didn't mean to... um... put all that on you." She sat away from him, putting her arms in her lap, breaking the contact once and for all. But except for when she tried to keep wiping away the tears, her eyes never left his.

Ranma swallowed. God... she was so... cute... "Nah, that's okay. I, um... I didn't mind. Like ya said at Dr. Tofu's, cryin' makes ya feel better. So, um, I'm glad I could... help?"

She nodded, wiping at her eyes again. "I guess being a guy, with all that 'manly men never cry' stuff, that doesn't make a lot of sense to you. But it does help." She smiled at him, and his heart skipped a beat. "Thank you."

He looked away from her, blushing, and she blushed as well. "I guess I... kinda know. I can... um... kinda feel... when I'm in my girl form... I kind of want to... it's harder to hold it back."

She sniffled. "You might try it some time. It does help."

He kept looking away from her. "I couldn't do that. Even as a girl. I just can't."

"I understand." She put a hand on his shoulder. "Thank you, Ranma. You didn't have to do that. But I really needed you there. You... I needed to know that you weren't still mad at me. That you forgive me."

He looked back into her brown eyes. "Of course I do."

She sniffled, loudly. "It's funny... I was blaming you for being a pervert. Coming into my bed. Dis..." She choked, a sob rising up again. "Dishonoring me. But it was Ryoga doing that to me. And you were trying to stop him."

Ranma didn't know what else to do. There was too much of a lump in his throat to say anything. So he just put a hand on her back, rubbing it reassuringly, as she buried her face in her hands. "I'm so sorry..." She muttered, her sobs getting louder again.

Gently, unsure if he was doing the right thing, he drew her to him again. He only just pulled her against his side, barely the slightest of pressure, but she pressed her face against his shoulder. He held her there as she continued to cry.

"It's okay," he said quietly. "Go ahead and cry. You... um... you don't have to pull away. I don't mind. As long as... you don't..."

"Thank you, Ranma," she said, her sniffles quieting again. "I guess I know I can trust you now."

She was silent for a moment. "It's not like I think every guy is a pervert, you know. I mean, I know the difference between the Hentai Horde and some of the other guys that seem to be interested in me sometimes. But... I thought with you it was different. It... it really hurt when I thought you'd..."

He pulled her against him a little harder. "I know. It... it hurt me a lot, too. I... I knew... um... you were mad."

"I'd hope so, with all the bruises I gave you." She chuckled a little.

"Ah, that was nothin'. I've had worse."

She patted his chest. "Baka. Before, it was just pretend, you know, I pulled my punches. This time, I was MAD. I hit you HARD."

"I can take it, tomboy."

"Uncute tomboy." She reminded him.

"Look. it's kinda hard, you know?" He paused a moment, looking at her. "We fight all the time, but... well, you know it's kidding around. I don't mean to hurt you. Right?"

"Right..." her voice was quiet, still regretful.

"I'd never... um... get in your bed or anything like that. Not unless you said I could."

"You think I'd say you could, baka?"

"No, no! I... um... I mean..." Ranma leaned back to protest, but he saw she was grinning.

"Relax, baka. That's for being so clumsy as to fall into my bed." She hit him in the chest again. Then she leaned away from him, and Ranma found himself strangely disappointed.

She wiped away the tears from her eyes. "I guess this isn't going to be as easy as we thought. Sometimes I do get mad at the things you say. Even though I know it's just our plan. It didn't take much for... for me to... lose my temper." She sobbed a little. "What if it happens again?"

He put an arm around her side in a quick hug. "As long as you call me 'baka' I know you don't mean it." He grinned at her.

She grinned back. "Then make sure you only call me 'uncute' when you don't mean it."

"Deal. Uncute tomboy."

She was silent for a while. Then, a thought started to cross her face. "You know... Ryoga might actually be helpful to our plan."

"You mean... tell him about it?"

"No, but... you told him I didn't know, right? That you didn't break your promise."

Ranma blushed. He didn't think she overheard that. "Yeah."

"Well, just let him carry on, then. If he thinks he can sneak around the house in pig form, we can make him think we hate each other. He won't have any reason to suspect..."

Ranma was looking shocked, however, maybe even a little scared. "You WANT him to sleep in your bed!"

"Well, no!" Akane countered, starting to grow angry, but then she reminded herself he was only worried about her. "If he tries that, I can just put him out in the hall after he falls asleep. He'll just think you snuck in and did it."

She paused a moment, a blush creeping onto her cheeks, as she considered the ramifications of this plan. After all, it was exactly what had just caused her to break down in Ranma's arms. The feeling of... violation that had swept over her. "It's not like he can do anything to me as a pig. We'll just have to make sure there's never any hot water in my room. Even if... even if I happen to fall asleep before him, I think I can be sure nothing will happen."

"I don't like it." Ranma muttered, his face dark. "You really want to do this? To press him to your..." He glanced at her chest, then realizing what he was doing, snapped his head back to look at the ground, his face crimson.

Akane's blush deepened as well. "Well, I guess I'll have to play the part. He's my pet, after all, and he'll expect me to... cuddle him." She put a hand on Ranma's knee as she looked at him. "You know... you know it doesn't mean anything, though. He was just a cute little pig to me. I... I didn't think of him as anything else."

Ranma's frown deepened, but he glanced at her with an odd expression in his eyes. Maybe he was... after all... jealous? It couldn't be...

"This could work out, though. I could talk to him, like I'm sharing my feelings with him. Make him think I hate you. That you're taking advantage of me. You saw how he acted when he ran you out of my room. He thinks you're a pervert, and he's protecting me from you."

She paused a moment, and moved her hand to his shoulder, squeezing it reassuringly. "You know he did that to get to you. He saw that you liked me, that you were my friend, and that you were trying to protect me. He decided to drive a wedge between us, to hurt you. If we can keep him doing that, he might disrupt our fathers' plans to marry us."

"And admit it..." Akane rubbed his shoulder. "You enjoy fighting him, don't you?" Ranma looked back at her, to find him grinning knowingly at him.

"Yeah, I do..." He smiled a bit, but then shook his head. "This is wrong, though. He'll... he'll see you. He'll... he'll be able to touch you when you're asleep. I..."

Akane looked away. "I know. I think I can keep him from seeing anything. At least keep my back turned when I'm changing. And it does bother me, too. But as I said, he's just a pig. Not even a very big pig. He can't really do much more than just curl up against me."

She paused a moment, thinking. "Look at it this way... what if you had to sleep in my room in girl form? Maybe... something happened to your room or something and you couldn't sleep there. As long as you were a girl..." She took a few moments to actually say it. "I don't think I'd mind."

Ranma's head snapped back to look at her, his mouth open, stunned by this admission. "You... you... you mean that?"

"No, not as long as you were a girl. I've had girlfriends over for sleepovers before. What could you do to me as a girl?"

"Uh..." Ranma looked back down at the floor, his face red again. "I... I could touch you and stuff. Just because I'm a girl, I..."

Akane's battle aura had flared around her. "YOU PERVERT! HOW DARE YOU THINK THINGS LIKE THAT ABOUT ME!"

Ranma put up his arms to shush her. "You're gonna wake everyone up! And you asked me, and I told you what I thought! I'm sorry, okay!"

As the black haired girl's anger calmed to just the flashing of her eyes, Ranma tried to explain. "Look, I was tryin' ta say, even though I'm a girl, I'd still know I was a guy inside. And YOU'D still be a girl! I wouldn't want to... I would... I could..." He began to stammer, his blush deepening as he found himself unable to find the words for what he meant.

"Okay, okay, baka." She slapped him on the chest. "I just couldn't believe you'd think I'd... do something... with... a girl..."

"You could sleep in a futon next to me, though. If you were a guy, I might be worried, but as a girl I wouldn't. You know?" She searched his eyes, and Ranma found that he did understand. In fact, he was amazed she trusted him that much.

"I... um... wouldn't do anything either. I wouldn't."

"I know, baka." She looked away from him. "I... When... When I woke up and you were in my bed, I... um... I..."

He put a hand on her shoulder. "Hey... don't... um... you don't haveta talk about..."

She put her hand on his. "No, I want to talk about it. I just assumed you were... um... I didn't want to... see, I knew it was an accident, I could see it in your face. But I got so mad, I got so embarassed, I didn't want to believe anything but the worst. I was... ashamed. I... I wanted... I wanted to believe you'd forced yourself..."

Her voice became quiet. "I wanted to believe you had to have forced yourself there because... I didn't want you there..."

"Well... of course you didn't..."

"No... but I did. Don't you DARE take that wrong, baka!" She slapped his chest, still not looking at him. "It... felt... I don't know. It wasn't... well, it wasn't so bad... I guess..."

Ranma found himself chuckling, but suppressed the reaction before he got clobbered. He gave her shoulder a reassuring squeeze, though, and muttered, "Yeah..." She glanced up at him, a bit surprised, but smiled at what she found in his eyes.

She rubbed the hand on her shoulder again. "Anyway... I knew all along. The thought that I couldn't trust you hurt so much because I wanted to believe I COULD trust you. But... not being sure..." She hung her head.

"I'm glad... I'm glad you stuck with me. Until you... could explain."

He shifted to her other shoulder to give her a squeeze. "You're my best friend, Akane. I'll never stop trying to explain."

She sighed. "And I'll try harder not to jump to conclusions."

"So..." she looked up at him. "I know what kind of person you are. What kind of person is Ryoga? You know him a lot better than I do. I told you I thought he was doing it to get to you, not to take advantage of me. So what do you think?"

She brought her other hand up to place it on his. "It's up to you, Ranma. I'll let you decide."

Ranma was silent for a long, long time. Finally, he shook his head. "I still don't like it. I don't like it at all. But... I think maybe... I find it hard to call Ryoga 'honorable' after doing this to you, but... in his own way, I guess, he is..."

"Back when we were in school, he really didn't have a lot to do with girls. In fact, he usually gets nosebleeds around them. I just can't see him doing anything... wrong. Who knows if he's changed but... I think we can trust him. And he did get a nosebleed when you held him as P-Chan."

He growled a bit at the memory. "He did go a little far in snugglin' up to ya and stuff, but whether he could do that as a person and not a pig is... well, I don't know about that. And the thing is, the further and further he digs himself into this, the harder it's gonna be for him to get out of it. I can hold this whole thing over his head, if I have to. Maybe... maybe I can make him behave himself. Threaten to tell you if he goes too far."

Ranma sighed, dropping his head into his palms. "I just don't like it."

"Are you..." Akane rubbed his shoulder. "Are you... jealous?"

He started to protest, then thought about it. Started to speak, then stopped. Finally he just shrugged. "I dunno."

Akane grinned. "Well, probably Ryoga thinks you are. And that only makes it better. He almost acts like he's jealous of you, in fact."

"What... you think he likes you?" Ranma looked at her, startled.

"Well, you have a friend, who cares about you. You've got a nice home where you can live. Even if nothing else, that's enough for him to be jealous of you."

"Heh, plus, I've got a curse that doesn't make me small and helpless, and unable to change back on my own." He thought for a moment. "That would be enough reason for him to try and use his curse against me."

"So what do you say?"

Ranma put his hand up on hers, on his shoulder, a mirror to her earlier gesture. "Okay. From now on, he's 'pig boy' and 'pork butt'. I'll continue to hint about his true identity, and you pretend that you're thick headed and stubborn and don't get it."

Akane smiled, and Ranma couldn't help feeling happy at how his heart began racing. "And you clobber the little pig and throw him around and I'll protect my 'widdle baby from the big bad baka.'"

They laughed at the thought, Akane's giggles taking a while to die down. "Well, good night, Akane... I'll see you in the morning." Ranma stood up, but he didn't take his hand off of hers. As he got to his feet, Akane did as well, taking her hand off of his shoulder, but still leaving her hand in his. She walked him over to the door, and she gave him that beatiful smile as he awkwardly turned to leave.

Their hands didn't part until he was out the door and on his way to his room.

THE END

* * *

Author's Notes:

My original intention had been for "A Little Different" to be a single short chapter, introducing a variation to Ranma and Akane's first meeting and then setting up their plan to pretend they hate each other, to set the story back on track. Although, as I state in my post in the reviews, the story did originally continue into the next day, I thought it worked better if it was just a one shot thing, entirely self contained.

I've been thinking of this idea for this scene, however, and decided to take the advice of a reviewer, who suggested making a number of separate, but connected one-shots, each of which take off from the original plot of the story, but return back to the "status quo" by the end. Again, the idea is not to change the Ranma 1/2 story, but to hint that something's going on when Ranma and Akane are alone that reveals another layer to it.

This "Chapter" is intended to be self-contained, like the first, but it has to refer back to the first in order for some of the dialog to make sense. I does sort of address some of the criticism of the story, in that it reveals that things aren't all sunshine and roses for Ranma and Akane, sometimes they still fight, and in fact this is the first test of their friendship and their "plan". While they may be falling in love, it's no more than the original, and in fact it is their secret closeness that leads Akane to feel betrayed.

The idea of trying to get things back to the original storyline took a bit more thinking. My original draft just had Akane find out everything and send Ryoga away. If the idea of Akane secretly knowing about P-Chan and "not minding" bothers you, you might not like this, but I think I manage to make it fit into the "plan". Also, I'm not portraying Ryoga as a pervert, just spiteful and a little lonely. Again, there are things going on we aren't privy too, and just because it LOOKS like Akane changes in front of P-Chan and sleeps with him through the night doesn't mean we know what happens when the camera is off.

At this time, I have no plan to continue this any further, but I didn't expect this chapter, and I can't control where the Muse takes me. :) So I'm not going to say that this won't continue. Just, as Ranma and Akane might say about their impending marriage, "not right now".


End file.
